Living in the new world… for people like me, and people like you. I’ll never drag politics into this letter…. I paraphrased the song that dropped this week by off-grid farmer Oliver Anthony and his dogs. You should listen to it below. It went viral and brings me back to Coal Miners Daughter, it might even give someone goosebumps. 

Anthony and his Dogs

Another week another scumbag moves…on the roller coaster known as the cannabis industry. The stupid shit I hear people pulling in this industry, trying to pull down the winners who get it… who love the plant and have the passion this industry sorely lacks too often. My eyes are much wider open since I started this letter. I’ve learned invaluable lessons; I’ve learned people I have dinner with have majorly fucked over other people I break bread with… people do shitty things for their own skin regularly, and I seem to uncover new ones weekly. Don’t start the microwave popcorn yet though.

Eventually, it will end and the Chads and Bradley’s from this world we operate will go on to another scheme or maybe not.

So you work at home, work at the business, work in your car nonstop to have some less talented or less motivated jealous type add to your stack you’re trying to unstack weekly. Nothing but respect for these people, you inspire the fuck out of me, and I root for you. Don’t get mad, get even…

Onward, I came across a blurb this week talking about cults. The word brings so many thoughts to my mind, but I’m talking specifics now, a cult that helps people block out all the bullshit we see and deal with daily.

Maybe you’re from the cult of Swifties. Hell yes, I’ll hum along to a Taylor track when I hear it, but I’m not standing outside concert venues to hear a few drum sounds and cheers through the walls from the darkness of the concrete parking lot. So many cults, so many choices, don’t delay!!!!

Whatever your “cult” is, I commend you if it’s helping you through the chaos of these days. If it isn’t… make it or find one. Mine is J-Pop, it’s something I’ll never say… on some other conscious level possibly? Again no.

But cannabis is my cult and many of you as well, I assume, if you’re reading this now. I approach the world like this of late… with all the nonsense and insanity surrounding these times, focus on your visions and dreams hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, push through. If you don’t have a cult level of passion for cannabis, move on, please… this isn’t for you, and you’ll find many far, far easier industries to not have passion for zzz.

I took a road trip this week to visit Aaron and Walt from 517, premier cannabis company. I toured their facility and met their staff. You could sense comradery in the building. Teamwork truly does make the dream work at this tight-knit establishment.

Born and raised on the streets of Lansing, Aaron built his value through caregiving for many years in the Michigan market. He has fought for everything in his life to get to this point. 517 hasn’t automated the grow they still hand water the plants and apply a lot of craft techniques learned during the caregiver era. All the strains at 517 come from seeds, making them unique. Instead of chasing the hottest, most popular strains, they pheno-hunt for unique strains with desirable traits to bring to the market.

Tell me about your early days in cannabis and what got you so interested in it to make it your life?  My early days started way back in 91ish I’d say. My pops is a true connoisseur of cannabis. So he would always have the best he could find and I’d always be there to snap a bud or some roaches lol and go with my bro and amigos and get baked to some cypress hill. I started growing cannabis for personal use in 2001 using outdoor/gorilla methods. In 2004, I purchased a dual 600 power box from High Times, which kicked off my indoor growing experience. Soon after, I acquired a grow tent when they became available. In 2008, everything changed for me when cannabis became medical. My focus shifted from growing for personal use to helping patients who relied on cannabis as medicine. My brother and I partnered up and began growing in a commercial warehouse alongside three caregivers. Even after getting raided by state and local police, we managed to impress them and received tips to remain compliant. However, when the big raid happened on Forsberg, we had to shut that operation down because the state deemed it illegal to grow in that manner. Fortunately, we met Walt, who owned a greenhouse, and we were able to become caregivers under his license. We grew sun cannabis for our patients, which proved to be helpful. With the legalization of cannabis, we decided to test the market and made the switch to recreational growing.

What were the major unexpected challenges crossing over to licensed from caregiver? The challenges for me we’re having to deal with everything not growing cannabis. All the legal stuff and running a real business. And then came the flood and having to deal with purchasing managers, that’s been a wild wild ride for sure.

Do you have any suggestions for other thinking about building a team for cannabis? My suggestion is make sure you know how to run a business and have a great marketing team and really great team all around. I’d be done without my team.

I see a lot of friendships blowing up in the industry over silly petty things… do you have any thoughts on those kind of situations? Green envy is very real I’ve lost friends and seem crazy blow ups in this industry and before it was and industry. Stay humble and respect the plant and culture and everything else will work its self out.

I find it very amusing that county and township boards think the best place for a cannabis operation is next to a rub an tug specialty store…. I feel like grows are the future of pharma yet here you are…I say this because I constantly hear about the medicinal properties the general population is realizing from cannabis edibles and flower. When does this stigma change and is it already in your opinion? The county’s and townships love to put us through it… next to all the weird shady spots, I see it everywhere, but it’s all good because we just focus on what we’re doing and try to be the best we can be. I wish cannabis got the respect it deserves. I feel like it will in the near future.

How important are the relationships with the bud tenders for a company like you? It’s very important to be connected and supporting the bud tenders. They make the industry move. I think brands including ourselves need to be better at educating them and the culture about your products so they can help the customers best they can. 

Does it surprise you how much the packaging and branding matters in cannabis? How does one set themselves apart from the other 150 companies offering 1/8’s? Yes it does surprise me, because seems like every shop is built to display Mylar bags and really don’t have the space to showcase glass jars. At least that’s what 90% of the PMs say, which is sad because we believe jars are the best way to preserve and protect cannabis.

Thank You Aaron and Walt for your time and openness chatting with me today. I think you make a lot of great points, and I really enjoyed the energy of your staff!

Please go and check out 517 Premier Cannabis’s work at Butter Through out Michigan and tell them we sent you.

MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH

As I continue to write, these pieces will evolve with my writing style. With that being said, you can expect an opening segment where I share my current thoughts and mood before the main feature. They used to call this a cartoon back in the day at movie theaters.

Mel Blanc was an amazing artist, all those voices all those characters.

Last and least I keep muddling over doing a podcast interview with Dark Star Seed Bank or just an article, as Ive stated before I’m not convinced your attention span wants segments that long from me. I haven’t heard back from Sam at Pure Options on the interview but he’s a busy guy ya know? Also Michigrown and others are just sitting out there waiting to be asnwered. Not even bitching either, just noting as I mentioned articles coming up.

In closing I leave you with this quote “ “If you don’t own a dog, at least one, there may not necessarily be anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life.” Roger Caras